Tale of the Tape
Good evening, y’all. We made it through another Thursday! Just one more day till the freakin’ weekend!! ✌️
Stocks bounced back from a groggy morning. 😴 The small-caps led in a big way. The Russell 2000 rallied 2.29%, and the S&P and Dow both flew ~0.5%.
Financials and industrials surged 1.6%— basic materials bounced back 1.45%. Real estate, utilities, consumer staples, and consumer discretionary all dashed ~1%. Tech and communications were the only sectors that struggled.
Bitcoin bounced to ~52,200 while Ethereum’s settled at 1,600… for now. Where will crypto crack next?? Place your bets. 💸
Jobless claims came in at 684,000— our lowest post-pandemic number. Read more below.
Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Waste Management all waltzed to fresh all-time highs. RH ripped 9% and closed at a new all-time high.
Chinese tech continued to crater. ☄️ $CQQQ came in 2%. $IQ got thumped another 13%, $TME tumbled 12, but $BILI finished flat.
The airline ETF $JETS jumped 2.5% after being down 1.72% early. Is it time to take off??
Gamestop galloped 52% following yesterday’s 33% free fall. We really don’t know what else to say. 😂
Here are the closing prints:
| S&P 500 | 3,909 | +0.52% |
| Nasdaq | 12,977 | +0.12% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,183 | +2.29% |
| Dow Jones | 32,619 | +0.62% |
IBD Brings in The USD
Earlier today, in an effort to expand its portfolio of news, News Corp disclosed its purchase of Investor’s Business Daily for $275M. Currently, News Corp’s portfolio includes the likes of the Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, and Barron’s. While none of those quite match the caliber of The Daily Rip, it’s an impressive stable nonetheless. 😉
Currently, IBD boasts ~100,000 digital subscribers. News Corp CEO Robert Thomson called that number a “…better job than most.”
The acquisition is a power move. It marks a departure from New Corps’ recent history of sales (News America Marketing and Unruly) in its attempts to streamline the company.
Right now, News Corp plans to keep IBD a separate division, so its 130 employees will keep their jobs and continue working in LA.
Here’s Something Light…
Osprey Funds just introduced its Light Papers, and today’s edition featured a brief piece on why Bitcoin may not be the energy hog some say. 🤔
Osprey’s Chief Behavioral Officer, Phil Pearlman, opens with:
Bitcoin is uniquely suited to capture the mis-match between the natural locations that produce the cheapest electricity in the world and their impractical distance to industrial uses. It has become the buyer of last resort for under utilized renewable electricity.
Read the rest of the light piece here.
Jobless Claims Update
We’ll start with some good news, then bad news, then more good news. Good news #1— we’ve hit a post-pandemic low for the number of jobless claims filed!
The current number of jobless claims is 684,000. That’s the lowest number of claims since last March! 👍 Unfortunately, though, it’s still higher than the worst unemployment numbers seen 12 years ago. 👎
A GDP report came out today, too. Eddy Elfenbein from Crossing Wall Street noted:
We had two key economic reports this morning. First up, Q4 GDP growth was revised up to 4.3%. GDP is still down 2.4% from a year ago.
More good news? There were 97,000 fewer claims filed this week than last week. Check out this graph:
Hey, at least we’re all getting through this together! ❤️
Backlash in China
Human rights have always been an issue of tension between China and the West, and oftentimes companies get caught in the middle. Nike, for example, is facing backlash for its recent press release.
The release condemns forced labor in Xinjiang and claims Nike does not source or produce any products in that area.
These allegations angered the Chinese government, who immediately called on foreign brands to stop attacking China’s reputation. Specifically, Chinese state media targeted H&M, and by Wednesday afternoon searches for “H&M” in Chinese apps and directories showed nothing. This move effectively erased H&M’s position in the country in minutes.
Additionally, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying spoke today at a daily media briefing. She held up a photo of a cotton field in Xinjiang, and said:
More than 40% of the cotton in Xinjiang is harvested by machinery, so the alleged forced labor is non-existent.
Earnings This Week
Be sure to know when your stocks report earnings. Here’s the earnings calendar.
Links That Don’t Suck
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🌌 Stocktwits After Hours: Big Reversal in Stocks, What Led The Way?
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🏜️ Kelly Wearstler Designs a Digital Desert Home for LeBron James’ Electric Hummer
🔥 Crypto and Climate Continued
🍿 The State of Venture Capital
😮 BIG + Field Operations Reveal Updated Master Plan of Williamsburg Waterfront ‘River Ring’
🏅 The Reformed Broker: Non-Compete
📚 The Man Behind the Hemingway Myth – WSJ
